The Time of Your Life
by raestorm
Summary: "It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you've had the time of your life." The Robbins and Torres families have been through a lot together over the years, and Callie and Arizona have always been the best of friends. Will time, circumstances, and new realizations begin to change the strong friendship they've created through the years? AU.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** **This story is AU. Arizona has her own fashion line for kids and Callie works with her father in the hotel industry. Their families have been friends for years and Callie and Arizona have grown up together, meeting on holidays and for summer vacations. I don't own anything but the storyline and original characters that are introduced.**

* * *

Arizona was basically jumping out of her skin. In less than five minutes she would be on her way to baggage claim and in a taxi with the youngest Torres, Aria, on her way to the beach house in Hawaii that both of their families rented for the upcoming week. Hopefully, Aria's flight wasn't delayed and they could grab their suitcases and be on their way to paradise. Plus, Callie had arrived the night before and Arizona didn't think she could wait any longer to see her best friend.

Jumping up as soon as the captain turned off the seat belt sign and the flight attendant made her way to the front of the plane, Arizona began fumbling with her fingers in anticipation. The couple sharing her row gave her a funny look and she simply smiled back, trying to stop from actually jumping up and down. "I'm just really excited to see my family," she explained, hurriedly, earning herself another weird look from the couple as they gave her almost identical fake smiles. "Sorry," Arizona mumbled, rolling her eyes, but convincing herself that nothing would take away her excitement.

Some agonizing minutes later, the couple grabbed their bags from the overhead and began making their way down the aisle. Arizona, seeing her chance, bounced into the aisle and tried reaching for her carry-on, failing to grab the briefcase when someone in the row behind her began violently pushing bags away to search for his own. "Excuse me! That's my briefcase. How about you wait your turn?"

The man turned to glare at Arizona, but she gave him just as hard of a look back and swiped her briefcase out of the bin, clutching her cell phone, and rushing off the plane before she had an anxiety attack over standing up to the asshole.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief and bouncing on the balls of her feet, Arizona made her way through the throngs of people, searching for an arrivals and departures screen to check out Aria's flight status. Groaning when she saw that the flight from San Diego wouldn't arrive for another twenty minutes, Arizona decided to head to baggage claim so she could at least be prepared when Aria got there.

Once she got to section C baggage claim, Arizona turned her phone on, leaning her body against a wall in the corner and watching as her iPhone lit up and came back to life after hours of being turned off. Glancing at the time stamp, she sighed. Thirteen minutes. Opening her messages, a bright smile crossed her face and she was sure that rude couple from the plane was giving her another weird look. Whatever. No one could hurt a girl for being overly excited about a much needed vacation. Hitting a few keys on her phone, she placed it to her ear and exhaled loudly, stomach clenching each time the phone rang.

Finally, she heard the voice that was currently only a few miles away. _"You're here!"_

"I just got your text! I'm standing at baggage claim waiting for your slow poke sister to get here. How is everything?"

_"The place is so cool, Zo. Please get here soon."_

"If Aria would get her cute little ass here, we'd be on our way."

Laughter was heard on the other end of the line._ "I don't think it's Aria's fault that her plane hasn't landed yet, crazy."_

"Psh, you say that because you're already lounged out by the pool in a skimpy bikini with a daiquiri in your hand." Snorting came from the other end and Arizona smiled, knowing she hit the nail on the head, and the gorgeous Latina was currently getting her tan on and pregaming. "Exactly," she replied, rolling her eyes playfully even though her friend couldn't see her.

_"Oh, shut up. I can't wait to see you!"_

"Me either. I'll be there as soon as I can. Love you, Cal!"

_"Love you, too. See you in a little, blondie."_

* * *

"It's about damn time!" Arizona exclaimed, flinging her arms around Aria when she finally found the nineteen-year-old dragging her cheetah print suitcase off the conveyer belt.

"Arizona!" Aria hugged the older woman tightly. She had missed out on seeing her last Christmas, instead going home with her now ex-boyfriend to meet his family. "It's not my fault my flight was delayed!"

"Yeah, yeah, Calliope said the same thing. Whatever. I just want to go see everyone. Come on, I already got a taxi."

"Ever the eager one, huh?" Aria teased, linking arms with her pseudo big sister and following her out into the blazing heat. "Ready for the vacation of your life?"

Laughing, Arizona pushed Aria into the backseat of the taxi and slid in after her. "You're still underage, little one."

"Now you're worrying about the law? Where were those thoughts when you, Callie, and Tim were running around like idiots and I had to take care of you all so that our parents didn't find out?"

Arizona simply shrugged and gave Aria a wink. "Sucks to be the youngest, huh?"

* * *

"Callie!"

Quickly setting her drink down on the ground next to her lounge chair, Callie flew up out of her seat and met Arizona at the gate leading to the beach house they were staying at. Arizona was immediately wrapped around her, bags and little sister forgotten, and Callie sighed. Months spent away from this woman was excruciating. "Hi," she whispered, nuzzling her face into Arizona's always radiant hair.

"Hi!" the perky blonde squealed back, pulling away and giving Callie a very obvious once over. "Mmm, looking good, Torres."

Winking at Arizona, Callie licked her lips purposefully and wiggled her hips from side-to-side. "Right back at cha, Robbins."

"Before you two get too far into your Calzona world, can I have a hug from my big sister, please?" Aria shot out, sarcastically, smirking when she received two glares in return.

Nonetheless, Callie reluctantly pulled away from Arizona and opened her arms for her little sister. "How was your flight, hermanita?"

"Too slow, apparently."

Arizona mock gasped and swatted at the tiniest Torres. "Anddddd, you're still a brat."

"I resent that," Aria replied, crossing her arms and letting out a puff of air indignantly.

"Oh, shoosh," Callie playfully scolded, ruffling Aria's hair and moving to pick up one of Arizona's bags. "Come on, I want to get out on the beach before next year."

* * *

"Hi Momma," Arizona greeted, sneakily, coming up behind the Robbins parents while they were laughing at something Papa Torres had just said.

"Arizona!" Barbara shrieked, flipping around and enveloping her daughter in a hug. "I'm so glad you made it, sweetheart. Tim's around here somewhere, flirting with everything female I'm assuming."

Giggling, Arizona skipped into her father's arms and let him hug her just like her mother did a moment ago. "Hi Daddy. And that doesn't surprise me. He's such a loser," she teased, going to give Carlos and Lucia hugs as well.

"We're so happy to see you, Arizona," Lucia greeted, kissing Arizona's forehead. "I think you've grown since I last saw you."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Mama, she's twenty-four years old. That phrase no longer applies."

"It'll always apply with my belleza," Lucia replied, giving Arizona another kiss and smiling at the blonde. "How are you?"

"Wonderful," Arizona replied, cheekily, giving Callie a smirk. "I promise we'll catch up at lunch or something, but I really want to go in the water," she added, grabbing Callie's wrist, who automatically moaned out something about Arizona being an adult and not a five-year-old anymore, but followed her nonetheless.

"Nice way to avoid the parentals," Callie admired, once they finally reached the water and Arizona dragged them both right in.

"I just wanted time for the two of us. We haven't seen each other in months, Calliope."

"I know, I know. That's my fault. I'm really sorry, Zo. I've just been trying to prove to my dad that I can do this whole hotel stuff without him looking over my shoulder every time I try to do something on my own."

"Tell me about it. My mom even tried to visit once a month these past couple of months to help me with the line. Like, seriously? I love her. You know that. But Arington is mine and I want to make a name for myself without her."

Callie fumbled for Arizona's hand under the water and once she caught it in her grip, she squeezed reassuringly. "From what I've heard and read, you're already making a pretty good name for yourself. The line is beautiful, by the way. I don't tell you that enough."

Blushing, Arizona quickly let out a 'thank you' and ducked under water, pulling Callie with her. When both resurfaced, Callie was glaring, hair a mess, and eyeliner already smudging down her cheeks. "Was that really necessary?"

"You think six months has changed me?"

Pretending to ponder the question for a few moments, Callie had Arizona in a fit of giggles. "Yeah, right, you're right. You'll never grow up."

"Hey, at least I remind you of your childhood."

Before Callie could respond, Arizona was swimming away, turning around and winking at the Latina once she was out of reach. "Tag. You're it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the feedback!**

* * *

After having spent a few much needed and appreciated hours with Callie, swimming in the ocean, eating at one of the beach side bars, and catching up some while laying out on the beach, Arizona headed down the coast to try and find her older brother. She walked for about fifteen minutes, digging her toes down into the wet sand on the shore each time she put one foot in front of the other. Already missing Callie, Arizona sighed. A week in paradise with her best friend and their families was very much needed and she really couldn't wait to experience everything with Callie, but one week would definitely not cut it. Seven days never did. Going home after every summer vacation, holiday, or other similar event seriously depressed Arizona.

Shaking herself out of her funk, she berated herself. If a week was all she had, she was going to make the absolute best out of each and every day. Stopping, she shuffled a shell into the water with her foot and scanned the beach for Tim. He couldn't have gone too far, nor would he have with all the attractive women currently on this section of the beach. Pushing her sunglasses onto the top of her head, Arizona smirked when she finally caught sight of her almost clone. Tim was talking to some cute brunette with an extremely toned body clad in a tiny pink string bikini. Seeing an opportunity present itself, Arizona sashayed over to the pair, stopping far enough away to hear their conversation.

"Sullins, right?" Tim asked, giving the woman what Arizona guessed he thought was _her_ trademark Robbins smirk.

The girl, who was apparently named Sullins, nodded and twirled one of her bikini bottom strings around her finger. "Right. How'd you know?"

"I ran into your friends a few minutes ago and they were looking for you. I told them I'd keep an eye out."

Sullins quirked an eyebrow and Arizona stifled a giggle. "How'd you know it was me?" she asked curiously.

"Oh. Well, your friends said you were beautiful." Arizona had trouble keeping her laughter under bay after that comment, but forced herself to shut up as Tim continued. "Uh, anyways, I was just wondering if you believed in love at first sight? If you don't, I can, uh, walk by again."

Immediately losing her internal battle, Arizona snorted and made her way over to stand directly next to Tim. "Hi!" she giggled, sticking her hand out to shake the now smirking Sullins'. "Sorry about my brother. If it's any consolation, that's a new pickup line for him. Usually he goes for the common 'I've lost my number, can I have yours?' or 'the heavens called me, they lost an angel'."

Sullins, trying to hold in her own laughter at this newcomer, glanced at Tim who was beat red and glaring at the other blonde. "Oh," she managed, smiling a very confused smile at the pair in front of her. "And you are?"

"Arizona. Nice to meet you. I really didn't mean to bother the two of you, but I had to come over and introduce myself. Otherwise, I'd be kicking myself for days for missing out on a chance like this." Tim's mouth dropped at his sister's obviously better attempt at flirting, clenching his fists together. Arizona always got the hot girls. Sullins, suddenly brightening up, was now carefully writing her phone number on his little sister's palm. Who carried a pen around on the beach anyways? Rolling his eyes, Tim let Arizona steal his thunder and waited for her to finish stealing his girl.

"Call me!" Sullins reminded, winking at Arizona before making her way back down the beach in the opposite direction that Arizona had just come from.

"Are you kidding me!"

Arizona giggled at Tim's expression. "Sorry, Timmy. I think she was actually kind of into you until you used that awful pick-up line. You might as well have told her your name was Chance and asked if you had one."

"Arizonaaaaaaa," he whined, almost stomping his foot in protest. "You're lucky I missed you or I would definitely not have let you just steal my girl."

"Oh," Arizona laughed, going in for a hug. "Is that right?"

"Yep," Tim deadpanned, making Arizona smile and lean into the hug more. "I really did miss you though, AZ."

"Missed you too, big brother. Momma sent me to find you. Papa Torres and Daddy have decided to grill tonight and apparently you're their right-hand man."

Linking arms with his baby sister, Tim began steering them in the direction of their beach house. "Great," he mumbled, sarcastically. "So, how is the line doing?"

* * *

"They're back," Callie announced from her place at the kitchen counter, where she was currently cutting up vegetables to mix in with a salad.

"Yeah, you can hear them from a mile away," Aria teased, filing her nails down in the seat next to Callie.

"Seriously? Do you know how disgusting that is? None of us want to eat fingernail dusted lettuce, Aria," Callie scolded and Aria moved away from the counter dramatically.

"Sor-ry," she blew out, making Callie grin. Her little sister was a pain in the ass, but she never failed to make everyone laugh.

"Found him," came the sing-song voice through the back sliding doors that led to the balcony and beach. "He's outside grilling now. I still don't understand why Dad didn't just let me help them out with dinner."

Busting out in laughter, Callie had to put the cutting knife down so she wouldn't hurt herself. "Did you really just say that?"

"What!" Arizona snapped, stealing a carrot from Callie's pile. Looking up at their mothers, Arizona realized they were quietly chuckling and Aria was giggling away as well. "What?" she repeated, crossing her arms.

"You, grill? That's a sight I'd pay to see," Barbara informed, causing Lucia, Aria, and Callie to enter into a fresh round of laughter.

"Shut up. Just shut up," Arizona replied. "I could totally grill." As the other four women in the room continued to laugh, Arizona huffed. "Fine. You are all jerks." Going to steal another carrot, her hand was quickly caught by Callie's darker one.

"Stop stealing my vegetables or we won't have any for the salad! And, what! What is this?" Callie exclaimed, pulling Arizona's hand back over when she saw the pen ink written on her best friend's palm. "Seriously, Zo, you've been here for less than twelve hours and you already have someone's number written on your body?" Callie asked, surprised she was even shocked.

"Are you kidding?" Aria yelled, already on her way over to expect Arizona's hand for herself. "You whore."

"Aria!" Lucia immediately scolded, trying not to smile despite herself. "Leave our Arizona alone. She can't help it that she's a pretty girl. Now tell us, belleza, who is this handsome young man?"

Aria and Callie shared a look and Arizona coughed before trying to formulate an answer. "Uh, Sullins is dark and um…tall."

"And handsome?" Barbara added, winking at Lucia. "My, my, look at you."

"Ha, ha," Arizona forced out, shrugging at Callie when their mothers turned their backs.

'Sullins?' she mouthed, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Arizona shot out her foot and kicked Callie to shut her up. The only people in their families that knew Arizona was gay were Tim, Callie, and Aria, and she was not about to have mighty mouth blow her cover. 'Sh!' she mouthed back, placing a finger to her lips and turning to Aria as well.

Still smirking, Callie began cutting vegetables again. Oh, this vacation was definitely turning out to be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure I'm not gonna get caught?"

Callie flicked a stray section of hair out of her eyes and rolled them when Arizona nudged her to quit.

"Calliope Torres. If you want me to finish this fishtail, I advise you stop fumbling with your hair. And for the last time, Aria, you aren't going to get caught. You're your sister's freaking twin. You just go in with Tim twenty minutes after us with her old ID. Capiche?" Quickly making eye contact with Aria, Arizona stilled her hands. "Seriously, kiddo. You won't get caught. It's a resort, anyways. No one will ev-_Callie! Stop screwing up my braid!"_

Snorting, Aria turned back to the mirror to finish applying mascara. "Zo has you whipped," she teased, making a whip motion with her hand and accompanying the joke with a whoosh sound.

"Arizona does not have me _whipped_," Callie retorted. "But if she doesn't stop pulling my hair out of my head, I'm going to whip her!" Pinching Arizona from behind, Arizona let out a yelp and Callie smirked. "Easy, please. You aren't braiding your own head. Some of us aren't aliens."

"Some of us aren't babies, either," Arizona mumbled, earning herself another pinch. "I'm almost done. Take a breather."

A few minutes later, someone knocked on Arizona and Callie's rented room and Tim stuck his head in after getting the 'okay'. "Jesus, you guys still aren't dressed?"

"We have to sneak Aria out anyways. It's not like we can just leave with all of our parents playing Yahtzee downstairs."

The Torres girls giggled at Arizona and Tim flung his body down next to Callie dramatically. "Hurry. Up. I'm not trying to come back here alone tonight and if we keep moving at this tortoise pace, there won't be any girls left to choose from."

"Except Sulllllllllins," Aria teased, winking at Arizona through the mirror.

Shrugging, Arizona tied off Callie's braid and pulled out a few pieces, giving it a messier look. Sexier look, if you asked her. "Sullins may be there. She and her friends haven't decided their plans yet."

Waving a mascara wand around, Aria gave Arizona a look. "So what is _our _plan?"

"What?"

"She means what's the plan when you come back here, hanging all over some chick you just met, hands fumbling up her top, and we have to explain to not only your parents, but also our own why we need to squeeze extra OJ in the morning. Or, better yet, why they found me in Aria's room and you and some girl tangled all around each other sans clothing in the morning."

Jaw dropping, Arizona glared at Callie. "Excuse me?"

Running a hand over her forehead, Callie sighed. "We just want to know the protocol in case someone other than the three of us stumbles upon you and Sullins in the morning."

Grabbing a dress out of their temporary closet, Arizona shook her head. "I don't know. The plan is for that not to happen at all. I'm sorry, Cal. I'm just not ready to tell them. I don't know if I'll ever be ready to tell them."

"They aren't going to care," Tim comforted, pulling Arizona into a side hug. "You know them."

"No one knows how they will react to something like this!" argued Arizona, clearly becoming flustered.

"Look, she doesn't have to tell them if she's uncomfortable. At least for now."

Smiling thankfully at Callie, Arizona winked. "Right. And did you call Sullins a 'chick'? Who are you, my brother?"

"Hey, I'm your wingwoman. Don't hate."

Arizona chuckled as she shooed Tim out of the room so the three of them could get changed.

* * *

"How pissed are you?"

Callie looked up from stirring her leftover ice to see Tim sliding onto the bar stool next to her own. "Hey," she greeted, rather lamely. "Not pissed. She deserves this."

Looking over their shoulders, they watched Arizona and Sullins stumble onto the sandy dance floor and fall into each other, Arizona with a shot glass in each hand and Sullins with her hands full of Arizona.

"She could do this anytime though. Why wait for vacation when she hasn't seen any of us in at least half a year?"

Shrugging, Callie smiled. "She works really hard. We both know that. It's one night. Let her blow off some steam." When Tim rolled his eyes and slumped in his chair, Callie signaled to the bartender. "Two more of these please," she requested, pointing to her empty drink glass. "Why are you asking me if I'm pissed when you're the one clearly upset with your sister?" she directed at Tim when the bartender left to make their drinks.

"Just frustrated, I guess."

"Clearly," Callie pushed, nodding her head and waiting for Tim to continue.

"I'm just sick and tired of keeping this all from Mom and Dad."

Closing her eyes before responding, Callie turned to face Tim. "Timmy. You can't tell your parents. And you can't push her to tell your parents. She's finally starting to accept who she is in this world. The last thing she needs is to be pushed too quickly and for it all to backfire."

After taking the drink the bartender left in front of him, Tim nodded. "No, I know. I would never do that to her. She's my baby sister and I love her. But I just can't wrap my head around why it's taken her this long. My parents will be fine with this. We all know that."

"You can't wrap your head around it all because you aren't the gay one. We don't know for sure how your parents will take it and regardless, Arizona has a lot more to worry about than just what your parents will say to her when she comes out to them. The best thing you and I can do is continue to support her and remind her that she isn't doing anything wrong."

"She can love whoever she wants to love," Tim mumbled, relaxing in his chair and looking much less anxious compared to before he and Callie talked.

Rubbing his shoulder softly, Callie grinned. "Yeah. She can love whoever she damn well pleases."

* * *

"Hi!" came the overly excited and slightly slurred greeting.

Quickly flipping around from where she was front-on-front grinding with another tourist, Callie smiled at the bubbly and dimpled blonde bouncing up and down on her feet in front of her. "Hello. You're having fun," she stated, rather than questioned and reached out to wipe lipstick (that was suspiciously not the same color Arizona left the beach resort wearing) off the girl's chin.

"A lot of fun!" Arizona squeaked. "Will you dance with me? Please?"

Turning around to say goodbye to her random dance partner, Callie held out both hands for Arizona to clasp. "Always. Where's Sullins?"

Despite the fast pace of the song, Arizona moved in to cuddle up against Callie. Sighing, she rested her sweaty forehead against Callie's neck and swayed to the music rather awkwardly. Callie held in a chuckle at how drunk her best friend was. "Sullins?" she prodded, trying to sway the both of them somewhat to the beat of the current pop song blaring through the overhead speakers.

"Oh." Arizona hiccuped. "Right. Sullins. Sullins went home. Sullins leaves 'morrow. Sullins is drunk. Sullins goin' to sleep now."

Losing her self-induced-hold-in-your-laughter battle, Callie snorted. "Oh. I see. I'm sorry."

"S'okay," Arizona mumbled, shrugging and beginning to back off Callie a bit and gain some rhythm. "Miss my breast friend anyways." Giggling madly, Arizona nudged Callie with her elbow. "Get it. Breast friend."

Callie rolled her eyes and couldn't help but chuckle as Arizona dissolved into giggles again. "Yeah, yeah, I get it." Their relationship was strange to say the least. Callie would do anything for Arizona and vice versa. Most of their mutual friends and acquaintances growing up were confused as to why the girls spent every possible waking moment together, but never really brought the topic up. Callie had always felt like Arizona was her other half, the other half of her that kept her heart beating, her lungs working, her brain spinning. Without Arizona, Callie wasn't her full self and she definitely wasn't the self she wanted to be. More than anything, she wanted Arizona to be happy and to find someone who would love her just as fiercely as she herself did. "Too bad I don't play for your team or we could actually be 'breast friends'," Callie teased, shooing away the nausea in her stomach that automatically arose after thinking about Arizona in any way that wasn't strictly platonic. "Or I mean, you could grow a penis and a beard."

"You don't even like beards," Arizona reminded, turning and beginning to drag Callie through the throngs of people in search of the other two people in their small party. "And no penis for me. Sorry' bout it," she slurred, causing to Callie to shake her head fondly while trying to spot Tim or Aria.

Arizona kept talking, but Callie ignored her. Finally spotting Aria a few feet away, she groaned out loud. "Damnit, you two." Aria was currently heavily leaning against two blonde surfer style college-aged males, taking a shot of god only knew what. Seeing Tim sitting at the bar, both made eye contact of mutual understanding and Callie began pulling Arizona out of the beach side bar.

Once the four made their way far enough down the beach to a spot where only a few lingered, Callie and Tim began plotting a way to sneak Aria back into the resort, both quietly and successfully. After the two much more sober siblings figured out a plan, they turned to find Aria kicking the tide and Arizona on the ground sifting through sand and looking longingly at the far away waves.

"Why don't you start back with my idiot little sister and Zo and I will catch up to you?" Callie propositioned, sliding into a seat in the sand next to Arizona.

"Alright. Be careful, please," Tim reminded before linking arms with a tripping Aria and walking in the opposite direction.

Leaning her shoulder into Arizona's, Callie smiled at the blond. "I thought we could just sit for a few minutes."

Smiling back gratefully, Arizona rested her head on Callie's shoulder. "Thanks for lettin' me have my nigh' and all," she slurred, reaching to interlock hands with her best friend.

* * *

Callie blinked her eyes open and a smile spread across her face when she felt, and then saw, Arizona slide into her bed next to her. Moving over to give the blonde room, Callie cringed when the girl's cold and bare legs and feet collided with her own. "Hey," she greeted, taking the offered water bottle and gulping down a few sips before twisting the cap back on.

"Hey." Arizona rolled onto her back and began a mental summary of that night. Once they had reached the beach side bar that Sullins had recommended, the four of them had taken a few shots. After a quick pep talk to Aria and some advice to Tim, Arizona went off in search of the girl she met on the beach, Callie went to find someone to dance with, Tim migrated toward a group of girls in bikini tops, and Aria started flirting with the bartender.

Until she found Callie later that night, Arizona didn't come into contact with any of the three. After finding Sullins and learning that this was the girl's last night in Hawaii, Arizona decided to milk it for all she could get. There was no way she was up for a long distance relationship right now. She wasn't even out to her parents and hell, she wasn't even sure where Sullins was actually from. But she was so pretty. And her hair, and her brightly painted fingernails, and her pink lips, and the sway of her hips against Arizona was making her head all fuzzy and filling it with sweet things like butterflies and cupcakes and warm showers.

All in all, it was a wonderful night and Arizona felt refreshed and more like herself than she had in months, despite the alcohol clouding her vision. Letting Sullins go was made much easier when Arizona remembered that her best friend was also partying at the same bar. Glancing at Callie, she noticed the brunette's eyes closing. Callie could always make a bad situation seem anything _but_ bad. Turning a bit on her right side to get a better look at her best friend, Arizona couldn't help but grinning. Looking at, and spending time with, Callie gave her all the confidence in the world.

Learning to accept who she was was a long and drawn out process, partly because she couldn't come to terms with the fear of disappointing her parents, but partly because Arizona never really gave herself the chance to work through the tough stuff. Callie, though, believed in her even when she couldn't find it in herself to be her own inspiration. Callie was her strongest supporter, but also her toughest critic and Arizona couldn't be more grateful for the push and pull of their relationship. "Hey, Cal…?"

Blinking her eyes open slowly, Callie let her head roll to make eye contact with Arizona. "What's up? Nauseous?"

Waving a hand to dismiss her best friend's worries, Arizona propped her head up on her hand. "I feel much less drunk now that I've consumed two cups of decaf coffee and a whole water bottle and a half."

"The carrots probably helped too."

"Mm. Probably. Can I ask you something?"

Propping her own head up, Callie nodded her assent. "Of course, blondie."

Pausing for a few moments to determine how best to ask what was on her mind, Arizona scratched gently at the hair falling out of her bun. "Do you…I mean I think you'd call me out on this, but I just-"

"Stop rambling while you're ahead please."

Puffing out a quiet laugh, Arizona gently pushed Callie in exasperation. "Jerk." After receiving a pointed look from Callie, Arizona rolled her eyes and began to stammer again. Eventually, she got around to what she really wanted to ask. "Do you think I'm hiding who I am? Or running from what I'm scared of? Because I don't want to be the person who is scared of myself. I want to face whatever it is and find ways to cope and be happy. I just…am I making this way harder than it needs to be? Who cares what everyone else thinks, right? You'll still be here."

Sighing, Callie pulled Arizona closer. "Sweetheart, I'll always be here. Best friends forever means forever. But just because I will be here doesn't make others' opinions less impacting. I do think there's a lot of hesitation on your part, but I don't think it's unwarranted. You're allowed to feel whatever you want to feel and no one, especially your brother, can influence you in a different way."

"How did you know this had to do with Timmy?"

Giving her a shrug, Callie hugged her a little tighter. "We talked a little while you were with Sullins. He loves you. It's just hard for him to keep things from your parents for this long. You know how he's wired. He isn't pushing you to hurt you. He's just doing it to try to help you be happy."

Circling her finger against Callie's shoulder, Arizona soaked up all the comfort the other woman was dishing out. "I appreciate him for that. I'm just not ready. There's no way to know how my parents, let alone yours, will react. I don't think they'd stop loving me and they're pretty open. But why stir the pot if I'm not in a place where I need to?"

Raising an eyebrow, Callie gave Arizona a look. "Is that really how you feel?"

"No…not so much. I'm just finally at a point where I'm fully accepting who I am. I was a total girl slut for a few years there," Arizona reminded, smiling when Callie laughed and agreed. "I'm just unsure of how to express all of that to them. You get it. You understand everything about me."

Tickling up Arizona's spine, Callie playfully shook the other woman. "I think you need to stop listening to everyone else and enjoy you. When it's the right time to tell them, you'll tell them. And we all know you'll do it in the least conventional or appropriate manner you can think of."

"Hey!" Arizona complained, rolling away from Callie and into her own bed. "Rude."

"Oh, uh huh, because that isn't exactly what will happen…." Callie made herself comfortable and waited for Arizona to get under her own covers. "Get a grip, Robbins."

"You're so mean and I hate you all the time."

Giggling, Callie closed her eyes. "Goodnight, slut."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the positive response! Sorry that this has been on the back burner for a while. I recently finished my senior year of undergrad and was in the process of applying to and deciding on which doctorate program to attend. I'm hoping to finish most, if not all, of this fic this summer though before things get too hectic again. Whether or not that actually happens is debatable. **

**This WILL be Calzona. There will be hints of Calzona throughout the entire fic, but it will be a slow burn to them actually becoming a them. I've had this idea for a while and seeing how certain characters come to terms with things, experience things, and learn who they are is an intricate component to the actual story. So, in other words, if you're interested in sticking around to see what happens, please do :)**

* * *

Arizona woke up the next morning to the smell of chocolate and cinnamon wafting through their rented beach condo. Simultaneously inhaling and pulling the covers tighter under her neck, she let her body relax into the mattress beneath her. This was her favorite way to wake up. This slow, comfortable, safe, stress-free, happy feeling only came in times of vacation and holidays and once-in-a-blue-moon-weekends and Arizona was going to soak it up as much as she possibly could. After a few moments in silence, Arizona, eyes still shut, pulled her arms above her head and stretched for a long minute.

Groaning, the blonde let her eyes flutter open to find Aria sitting at the mirror, running Callie's brush through her long locks. "Morning," she rasped, snuggling back into her pillow and watching the younger girl. "Have you been up long?"

Placing the hairbrush down after one last stroke, Aria slowly turned, squeezing her eyes shut for a second at the movement. "Not really. Kind of woke up with a headache."

Snorting, Arizona rolled over onto her back, stretched again, and finally sat up. "If you didn't have a headache this morning, I'd think you were an alcoholic back home," she teased, reaching for the leftover water bottle from the previous night. Throwing the bottle to Aria, she waited for the girl to take a few sips before pointing to the Advil that was sitting on the dresser. "Pop a few of those and finish that bottle. You should be fine soon if you aren't nauseous."

After swallowing three pills and downing the rest of the water, much to Arizona's protests of 'Aria, slow down!', the teen placed her hands on her hips and began tapping her foot. "Why are you still in bed anyways, Zo! Get dressed. Your dad made his famous pancakes. You have five minutes to be up, pretty, and ready to go."

"Yes, your highness," Arizona muttered under her breath, shooting out of bed. Grabbing a blue and green bikini from one of the drawers, Arizona pinched Aria's hip, gave the girl a smacking kiss on the cheek, and made her way into the bathroom.

Five minutes later, a bikini and loose tank top clad Arizona and a proud looking Aria sauntered into the kitchen.

"Good morning!" Arizona chirped, twisting her hair into a quick messy bun, mid walk.

"Hey, sweet pea," Daniel greeted, placing a kiss on Arizona's forehead when she slid into the empty seat next to him. "We thought hell froze over this morning when Callie woke up early to help me with pancakes and you almost slept through breakfast."

"Mhm. Until we remembered that Callie can hold her alcohol a lot better," Barbara added, trying to hide her grin by placing a few pancakes on both late comers' plates.

"I was hoping Aria would inherit that specific Torres trait, but seems as if she was more influenced by a certain Robbins daughter," Lucia mentioned, seemingly offhandedly, causing all four younger members to choke on pancakes and orange juice.

Swallowing, Aria tried to hide her blush. "Um…I…" Trailing off, the youngest member of the two clans shrugged then immediately brightened when she looked at her big sister. "Calliope made me do it!"

"Aria!" Callie and Arizona squealed at the same time, Callie swatting at the teen and Arizona shaking her head at their parents.

"Untrue," Tim promised while both sets of parents began chuckling.

"Aria, take a breather, sweetheart! We can't very well punish you for something these three knuckleheads knowingly got away with for years," Barbara explained. "You four are just so gullible!"

Arizona and Callie made eye contact across the table, sharing an eye roll and an annoyed shake of their heads.

* * *

"Pleeeeeeease! Calliope, please! Please, please, please, please, ple-"

"Okay! Arizona, shut up. Okay. I'll do it."

Letting out an excited 'yay' and bouncing up and down, Arizona waited rather impatiently for Callie to stand up from her spot sunbathing on the boat deck.

"Why didn't you get your brother to do this with you? I was comfortable," Callie complained, all the while clasping hands with her best friend and allowing herself to be pulled to the front of the boat where all four of their parents were sharing stories and cocktails.

"Convinced her," Arizona announced proudly, pulling Callie into her side and bouncing them both excitedly.

Glancing down at the snorkeling gear sitting in the vacant chair, Callie groaned. "You told me we were going snorkeling, Zo. You didn't tell me we were using pool toys. I thought this was the real thing. See you later. I'm resuming my tanning activities. Enjoy your fish."

Callie began pulling away from Arizona so the blonde wrapped both arms around the taller woman's neck, latching on and keeping her in place. Sighing rather dramatically, Callie slowly turned back to face Arizona and snorted at her best friend's pouty lip and puppy dog eyes. "Fine. Fine, I'll go with you. Drop the act, Robbins."

* * *

"I have to admit. This is really, really cool. Even for you," Callie whispered, twenty minutes later when the two grabbed on to the floating devices hanging off their boat for a quick break.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arizona gasped, breathing in quick puffs of air, after having held her breath for entirely too long while looking at the fish underwater. Cleaning out her snorkel, she grinned and popped it into her mouth. "I should probably actually use this," she mumbled, almost incoherently.

"It means you usually come up with some pretty cool ideas, but even I'm impressed by this one. And yes, that's the point."

Smiling one of her super magic smiles, Arizona winked, letting the snorkel hang for a second to speak. "Only for you, Calliope. But honestly, everyone snorkels!" Giggling, she dunked her goggle covered face back underwater and Callie watched blonde locks float to the surface of the water, framing the dollar store, bright pink, toy snorkel.

Sucking in a quick breath, Callie's eyes widened at the feeling that engulfed her. She'd always been a little bit attracted to Arizona before, but who wouldn't be? They were best friends and knew each other better than anyone else. Their emotional relationship was stronger than any Callie had ever experienced with a previous boyfriend or conquest. Usually, she could brush her physical attraction to Arizona off as a consequence of knowing each other _too well_. However, right now, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, tropical fish swimming through their legs, Arizona's bright blonde hair shining in the scorching sun, both of them pressed up against the boat, hidden from their families' prying eyes, Callie was having a lot of trouble simply pushing her feelings aside.

Part of her wanted to believe that these overwhelming and consuming feelings were merely an attack on her senses, a euphoria caused by vacation, happiness, and relaxation, a frustration from her current sexual dry spell. The other, larger, irrational part of Callie wanted to yank Arizona up by her snorkel, slam the blonde's body between her own and the boat, and kiss her until the sun set.

Settling for somewhere in between, Callie placed a gentle hand over the snorkel's opening, waiting for the woman, whose legs were currently entangled with her own in order to stay afloat, to realize that her air supply had run out.

When Arizona's exasperated face did emerge from the water, Callie couldn't help but laughing. "Take those goofy goggles off. I can't talk to you while they are plastered to your face, you nut."

Immediately pushing the goggles and snorkel up and off her face, Arizona smiled quite smugly. "At least I'm seeing all the fishies. You're just chilling here, on this raft thingy, missing out on the rainbow down under!"

Callie snorted. "You and your rainbows."

Releasing her leg in a swift and powerful kick, Arizona glared. "You are so mean. That's mean, Calliope! You can't say that!"

"Oh shush. You know I'm teasing you."

Crossing her arms and attempting a smooth, angry face, Arizona began sputtering when she realized she had just let go of the rubber anchor keeping her head above the water. "Zeedus ladpedus, Cal! See what you make me do!"

With an eye roll and a kick back, Callie waited for Arizona to regain the small amount of composure she ever had on their snorkeling adventure.

"Whadja wanna talk about, anyways?" the blonde asked when she had most of her balance back. Sliding her legs between Callie's, she rested her head on the buoy.

Gulping, Callie opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Getting an encouraging and unfortunately adorable nod from her best friend, the brunette tried again. "I don't think right here is the best or most appropriate time for this talk, exactly."

"ARE YOU PREGN-"

"Shut up!" Callie hissed, slamming one of her hands over Arizona's mouth and hurriedly glancing up at the boat to see if anyone overheard. "I'm not pregnant. Care to be a little more obvious, though?" she rushed out, her voice laced with sarcastic undertones.

After cringing slightly, Arizona smiled apologetically. "Sorry. Slipped out. I got a little excited. You know, for the whole aunt and god mom thing or whatever it is since I'm not catholic like you and the Torres fam."

"We can burn that bridge when we come to it. For now, baby talk is off limits. Got it?"

"Scout's honor," Arizona promised, saluting Callie. "And all the other kinds of honor, too. So, what's up?"

"I just…" Callie shrugged. "I have some questions about my sexuality and who better to ask than my lesbian best friend?"

Eyebrows raised, eyes slightly widened, Arizona rolled her lips into a confused ball in the corner of her mouth. "There are probably better people, but I can try to give you some good answers. Why don't we have a best friend dinner date and we can hash into all of your sex fantasies over sushi and tequila?"

Grinning gratefully, Callie let the breath she had been holding free. "Wonderful. It's a date."


End file.
